Ten years ago, Krispy Kreme opened it’s first Denver area shop in south Denver near C-470 and Quebec. The traffic reports in the morning would call out the “doughnut delay.” There were lots of stories of people camping out and waiting for hours to get a hot doughnut. Fast forward ten years and this week IKEA opened it’s first Denver area store just north of Park Meadows near I-25. The traffic report on opening day discussed the “meatball delay,” an obvious reference to the signature dish at IKEA featuring Swedish meatballs.
What an opening! Campers started showing up three days before the doors would open for the first time. Two hours after the doors opened, there were still hundreds of people waiting to get inside. 
One of the super lucky was Alicia Slider (pictured to the right) from Colorado Springs. She arrived 55 hours before the opening and was one of the lucky 38 (referencing the 38th IKEA in the U.S.) that received a free sofa. After the lucky 38 ‘IKEAmpers,’ the next 100 received a free armchair. IKEA expects 40,000 people per day for the opening week.
Although, the store does not open without some controversy. Namely the 92 foot sign that hovers over the light rail train tracks and the $18 million in tax breaks the city of Centennial offered IKEA to locate it’s store within city limits. My hope is that the competition will help drive down prices, but I can hear other furniture stores complaining about fairness – after all they don’t get to keep $18 million in taxes.
As for me, I’m not in a rush to buy. I may go for the experience…and some meatballs.
Carving Freshies 